Houses above the A22, Whyteleafe (geograph 2309246)

Photo: David Howard · CC BY-SA 2.0

Outdoors in Whyteleafe · parks, paths & countryside

Whyteleafe has more park space per resident than 9 in 10 UK towns

Parks and playing fields in Whyteleafe add up to 16.3 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 100% of residents. Footpaths add up to 48 km in the town and the kilometre around it, 4.9 for every square kilometre. Whyteleafe grades A+ for the outdoors: #1 of 65 in Surrey. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.

6named parks 0.3 mito Surrey Hills 8waymarked walks

Green space

16.3 ha

per 1,000 residents

Typical UK town 2.1

Near a park

100%

of residents within 400 m

Typical UK town 83%

Footpaths

48 km

4.9 km per km², town + 1 km

Typical UK town 3.0 per km²

Protected landscape

15%

of the land within 5 km

Nearest: Surrey Hills National Landscape

Character

What kind of outdoors town is Whyteleafe?

Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.

Room to roam16.3 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents, more than 98% of UK towns.A town of footpaths4.9 km of path per km², more than 92% of UK towns. The typical town has 3.0.A park on every doorstep100% of residents live within 400 m of a park or playing field.Countryside both waysSurrey Hills starts 0.3 mi south-east, Kent Downs 4.8 mi east.

Whyteleafe’s strongest suit is plenty of park space, followed by dense footpaths.

Outdoors grade

Whyteleafe grades A+ for the outdoors

Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Whyteleafe, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.

A⁺

Better than almost every UK town#1 of 65 in Surrey · 1st of 60 UK towns its size

Public green space16.3 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces

98out of
100

A park within a walk100%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)

89out of
100

National Park or National Landscape15%of the land within 5 km

75out of
100

Footpaths4.9 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it

92out of
100

The sea0%of the area within 5 km · Inland

42out of
100

Graded, never part of the overall grade (like History and Civic life). It measures what is mapped: OS Open Greenspace leaves out woodland and open-access land that isn’t a park, and OpenStreetMap’s rural paths are more complete in some places than others.

Towns its size

Whyteleafe is 1st of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors

The 60 UK towns and cities of 3,000 to 3,300 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.

Outdoors score: the share of UK towns each one beats

Footpath, km per km²

Whyteleafe4.9

Towns its size2.5

Surrey towns4.3

All UK towns3.0

Green space, ha per 1,000 residents

Whyteleafe16.3

Towns its size1.6

Surrey towns3.1

All UK towns2.1

Residents within 400 m of a park

Whyteleafe100%

Towns its size78%

Surrey towns75%

All UK towns83%

Against towns its size, Whyteleafe stands out most for park space per resident: none of the other 59 has more.

Show as a table

	Town	Outdoors	Green space	Near a park	Path per km²	Protected
1	Whyteleafe Surrey	A⁺	16.3	100%	4.9	15%
2	Bignall End Staffordshire	A	9.1	100%	4.1	0%
3	Moira Leicestershire	A	15.5	86%	5.1	0%
4	Tywyn Gwynedd	A⁻	2.4	79%	1.9	51%
5	Gamesley Derbyshire	A⁻	0.8	100%	5	32%
6	Neyland Dyfed	A⁻	3	93%	1.2	13%
7	Netherton (Kirklees) West Yorkshire	A⁻	2	88%	5.5	6%
8	Oughtibridge South Yorkshire	A⁻	2.2	76%	6	19%
9	Bream Gloucestershire	A⁻	2.2	82%	4.7	10%
10	Wootton Isle of Wight	B⁺	3.7	67%	1.7	20%
11	North Petherton Somerset	B⁺	3.8	91%	2.3	5%
12	Amlwch Gwynedd	B⁺	1.6	87%	2.1	14%
13	Addingham West Yorkshire	B⁺	1.8	93%	3	32%
14	Porthleven Cornwall	B⁺	1.6	78%	2.5	19%
15	Drayton Oxfordshire	B⁺	1.7	100%	3	3%
16	Markyate Hertfordshire	B⁺	1.4	100%	2.2	53%
17	St Agnes Cornwall	B⁺	1	81%	3	5%
18	Wheatley Hill County Durham	B⁺	2.6	100%	3	0%
19	Honeybourne Worcestershire	B	2.9	80%	2.6	14%
20	Walton West Yorkshire	B	12.3	78%	3	0%
21	Treeton South Yorkshire	B	4.4	63%	5.3	0%
22	Upper Beeding West Sussex	B	0.6	83%	3.9	62%
23	Fleur-de-lis and Pengam Gwent	B	6	54%	4.9	0%
24	Ringmer East Sussex	B⁻	1.9	91%	1.8	37%
25	Newbold Verdon Leicestershire	B⁻	2.3	100%	2.5	0%
26	Askam in Furness Cumbria	B⁻	1.7	90%	2	0%
27	Dunton Green Kent	B⁻	1	82%	2.7	69%
28	Healing Lincolnshire	B⁻	2	78%	1.3	1%
29	Lambourn Berkshire	C⁺	1.2	61%	3	100%
30	Etwall Derbyshire	C⁺	2.3	100%	1.5	0%
31	Milborne Port Somerset	C⁺	1.6	100%	2.3	0%
32	Dymchurch Kent	C⁺	1.6	58%	1	13%
33	Thaxted Essex	C	0.8	91%	3.6	0%
34	West Bergholt Essex	C	1.5	82%	1.8	9%
35	Swanmore Hampshire	C	1.4	69%	1.9	54%
36	West Chiltington West Sussex	C	1.5	18%	2.7	38%
37	Teynham Kent	C	0.8	55%	1.8	13%
38	Ogmore Vale Mid Glamorgan	C	4.3	79%	0.9	0%
39	Cullingworth West Yorkshire	C⁻	1.1	72%	3.9	0%
40	Hadlow Kent	C⁻	1.7	61%	2	11%
41	Charvil Berkshire	C⁻	0.7	68%	2.7	6%
42	Sapcote Leicestershire	C⁻	2.4	67%	2.4	0%
43	Claydon Suffolk	C⁻	2.8	72%	1.9	0%
44	Appleby-in-Westmorland Cumbria	C⁻	1.2	63%	2.1	24%
45	Yarnton Oxfordshire	C⁻	0.4	69%	3	0%
46	Farnsfield Nottinghamshire	C⁻	2	63%	2.8	0%
47	West Auckland County Durham	C⁻	1.1	91%	2.1	0%
48	Purton Wiltshire	C⁻	0.8	60%	4.3	0%
49	South Petherton Somerset	C⁻	1.1	61%	3.4	0%
50	Rendlesham Suffolk	C⁻	0.8	52%	1.6	59%
51	Astwood Bank Worcestershire	C⁻	0.9	79%	2.6	0%
52	Navenby Lincolnshire	D	1.2	81%	2.1	0%
53	Tarporley Cheshire	D	1	69%	2.5	0%
54	Iver Buckinghamshire	D	1.3	60%	2.5	0%
55	Skellingthorpe Lincolnshire	D	1.2	69%	1.9	0%
56	Eccleshall Staffordshire	D	1.1	74%	1.4	0%
57	Queniborough Leicestershire	D	1.4	48%	1.9	0%
58	Dunnington North Yorkshire	D⁻	0.8	44%	1.6	0%
59	Upper Tean Staffordshire	D⁻	0.6	60%	0.8	0%
60	Donington Lincolnshire	D⁻	0.8	54%	0.8	0%

The map

Parks, footpaths & countryside

Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Whyteleafe’s built-up area.

Green space: parks, gardens, playing fields and play spaces, named or not.© OpenStreetMap contributors · Contains OS data © Crown copyright · Natural England / NRW

Places to walk

Parks to walk in, in and around Whyteleafe

The biggest is Kenley Common, 72 ha (178 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.

All 6 named parks by size: 148 ha (365 acres) and 21 km of path

Parks & gardens 134 haPlaying fields 14 ha

The two biggest, Kenley Common and Riddlesdown Common, are 77% of the named green space and carry 17 km of path between them.

Whyteleafe’s biggest

Kenley Common

Park or garden

72 ha (178 acres)7.6 km of path

1 h 40 minto walk all 7.6 km of path

101 pitchesfootball pitches would fit

Centralin the middle of Whyteleafe

Hawkhirst RoadLongwood Road

Directionsto the nearest entrance

Riddlesdown Common

Park or garden · 10 m outside town

41 ha (102 acres)9.2 km of path

2 h 5 minto walk all 9.2 km of path

58 pitchesfootball pitches would fit

0.8 mi northfrom the centre

Riddlesdown Road

Directionsto the nearest entrance

Manor Park

Park or garden

20 ha (50 acres)3.0 km of path

40 minto walk all 3 km of path

28 pitchesfootball pitches would fit

0.4 mi southfrom the centre

Peak

Directionsto the nearest entrance

Whyteleafe Recreation Ground

Playing field · 20 m outside town

7.9 ha (20 acres)1.1 km of path

15 minto walk all 1.1 km of path

11 pitchesfootball pitches would fit

Centralin the middle of Whyteleafe

Directionsto the nearest entrance

Whyteleafe Community Sports Centre

Playing field

3.8 ha (9 acres)

5 pitchesfootball pitches would fit

Centralin the middle of Whyteleafe

Directionsto the nearest entrance

Bourne Park Recreation Ground

Playing field · 260 m outside town

2.3 ha (6 acres)0.4 km of path

3 pitchesfootball pitches would fit

0.9 mi north-westfrom the centre

Directionsto the nearest entrance

Close to home

Everyone in Whyteleafe lives within a 5-minute walk of a park

Each square is 1 in 100 residents: green lives within 400 m of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace).

Within 400 m (100%)Further (0%)

Whyteleafe100%

Towns its size78%

Surrey towns75%

All UK towns83%

Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 14 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 227 residents.

National Parks & National Landscapes

Surrey Hills and Kent Downs both start about 5 miles from Whyteleafe

Protected landscapes within 30 km, by direction and distance from the edge of the built-up area; circle size shows each one’s area. National Landscapes were called Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty until 2023.

National ParkNational LandscapeThe 5 km the grade counts

National Landscape

Surrey Hills

0.3 mi south-east422 km²since 195815% of the land within 5 km

Official site

National Landscape

Kent Downs

4.8 mi east879 km²since 1968

Official site

National Landscape

High Weald

9.5 mi south-east1,462 km²since 1983

Official site

15% of the land within 5 km of Whyteleafe is National Park or National Landscape, more than 74% of UK towns.

Footpaths & waymarked walks

8 waymarked walks pass through or near Whyteleafe

48 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Whyteleafe and the kilometre around it, 4.9 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.

RegionalLocal

Tandridge Border Path7.8 km

Caterham Circular Walk6.8 km

London LOOP (Section 5)6.2 km

Woldingham walk (SCC)3.9 km

LOOP link to Whyteleafe station1.6 km

Woldingham Countryside Walk1.1 km

London LOOP (Section 4)1.0 km

Over the Downs to Oxted Mill walk (SCC)0.8 km

Close to home, the Caterham Circular Walk has 7 km of local walk within 2 km of the town. 4 regional routes pass through, including the Tandridge Border Path, London LOOP (Section 5), LOOP link to Whyteleafe station and London LOOP (Section 4).

Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.

When to get out

The best walking months in Whyteleafe: May to September

The town’s 1991–2020 averages (Met Office HadUK-Grid) and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have 12½+ hours of daylight, highs of 15 °C or more and little rain for the town.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Daylight (h)	8.3	9.9	11.7	13.8	15.6	16.6	16.2	14.6	12.5	10.6	8.8	7.9
High (°C)	7	8	10	14	17	20	22	22	19	15	10	8
Rain (mm)	88	67	53	56	60	56	57	69	64	94	93	92

March is the driest month (53 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 22 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 94 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 38 nights a year. The climate in Whyteleafe →

Things to do

14 playgrounds and the nearest beaches

Mapped within 2 km of the town in OpenStreetMap, against the typical UK town its size per resident. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.

3Hills and peaks 3Nature reserves 14Playgrounds1.8× towns its size

The nearest beaches

Whyteleafe is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.

Kelson Beach13 mi from Whyteleafe’s edge

Directions

Dock Beach14 mi from Whyteleafe’s edge

Directions

The Hollows15 mi from Whyteleafe’s edge

Directions

Hog Hole15 mi from Whyteleafe’s edge

Directions

Amity Beach20 mi from Whyteleafe’s edge

Directions

Good to know

Check the water before you swim. The Environment Agency tests designated bathing waters from May to September and publishes a rating for each beach.

Every named place, with directions

Hills and peaks 3

Joysons Hill0.0 mi from town

Directions

Burntwood Hill0.3 mi from town

Directions

Stony Hill0.5 mi from town

Directions

Nature reserves 3

Sanderstead to Whyteleafe Countryside Area96 ha · 0.2 mi from town

Directions

Hamsey Green Pond0.1 ha · 0.8 mi from town

Directions

Dollypers Hill Nature Reserve13 ha · 1.1 mi from town

Directions

Playgrounds 14

Caterham Barracks Play Area1.1 mi from town

Directions

Plus 13 playgrounds without a name on the map.

Next door

The outdoors in nearby towns

The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.

WarlinghamCaterhamChaldonWoldinghamNetherne on-the-HillHooleyWhyteleafe

ABCDOutdoors Grade

Town	Outdoors	Green space, ha per 1,000	Near a park	Protected within 5 km
Whyteleafe	A⁺	16.3	100%	15%
Warlingham 1.0 mi	A	4.2	81%	13%
Caterham 1.3 mi	A	4.3	84%	17%
Chaldon 2.2 mi	A⁻	7.4	50%	24%
Woldingham 2.5 mi	C⁻	0.2	25%	20%
Netherne on-the-Hill 3.0 mi	B⁻	1.6	40%	19%
Hooley 3.6 mi	B⁻	1.7	67%	18%

Whyteleafe grades higher for the outdoors than every neighbour in the table.

Questions about the outdoors in Whyteleafe

What is the biggest park in Whyteleafe?

Kenley Common, 72 ha (178 acres), with 7.6 km of path. Riddlesdown Common (41 ha) is second. 6 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.

Is Whyteleafe near a National Park?

The nearest protected landscape is the Surrey Hills National Landscape, 0.3 mi south-east of the town’s edge. It covers 422 km² and was designated in 1958.

What are the best walks near Whyteleafe?

8 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Tandridge Border Path, Caterham Circular Walk and London LOOP (Section 5). Kenley Common alone has 7.6 km of path.

What is the nearest beach to Whyteleafe?

Kelson Beach, 13 mi from the edge of the town, then Dock Beach (14 mi). Whyteleafe itself is inland.

How many people in Whyteleafe live near a park?

100% of residents live within 400 m, about a 5-minute walk, of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace). The typical UK town is 83%.

When is the best time of year for walking in Whyteleafe?

May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.

Is Whyteleafe good for walking?

For paths, yes: 4.9 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 92% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 98% (16.3 ha per 1,000 residents).

How is the Outdoors Grade worked out?

From five measures, each placed among UK towns of 1,000 or more: public green space per resident, the share living near a park, National Park or National Landscape within 5 km, footpaths per square kilometre, and the sea within 5 km. It is a character grade and isn’t part of Whyteleafe’s overall grade.

Sources

Where Whyteleafe’s outdoors figures come from

Parks and green space: Ordnance Survey OS Open Greenspace (parks and gardens, playing fields, play spaces, and their access points). Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0.
National Parks and National Landscapes: Natural England and Natural Resources Wales boundaries, areas and designation dates, Open Government Licence v3.0.
Footpaths, walking routes, beaches and things to do: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License (ODbL), via Geofabrik, 16 October 2026.
Historic parks, listed buildings and monuments: Historic England, National Heritage List for England, Open Government Licence v3.0.
Rain and temperature: Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages for the town; daylight calculated from its latitude.
The sea: ONS Countries (December 2024) boundaries clipped to mean high water. Residents near a park: ONS Census 2021 output areas.
Grade: TownRatings’ Outdoors Grade, ranked against UK towns only.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.